With the progress in the digital broadcast technologies, efficient use of bandwidths in the limited frequency resources has become possible, thus allowing a variety of services such as data broadcasts. The data broadcast service, unlike related art services using pictures and voice alone, uses multimedia information such as still pictures and text. The data broadcast service which is easy to create and interactive, is expected to play the central role in the future digital broadcasts. Services have been launched that provide information including weather forecasts and news over data broadcasts. Viewers access such services with different timings so that the same data is typically transmitted repeatedly over a long period.
Meanwhile, digital storage media are getting denser and lower-cost, and services that temporarily store broadcasts on storage media before using the broadcasts have been on the market. Features that constantly buffer TV programs under broadcasting and regenerates the programs as required are already in practical use as well as the ordinary program recording feature. New services such as highlight viewing of recorded programs are under study.
In this way, by using recorded media effectively, it is possible to solve the problem with the efficient use of transmission bandwidth by way of repeated transmission as in the related art data broadcasts. That is, data is stored on storage media in advance and the viewer can use the data stored on the storage media as necessary. This method allows uses of a large content that cannot be transmitted at a time thus upgrading the service quality.
However, operation of the services of such a form involves the following problems:    1) Data cannot be stored depending on the use conditions of the storage media. While the capacity of storage media in receiving/storage apparatus is limited, services that use the storage media are varied. Storage capacity necessary for receiving a service cannot be reserved depending on the service usage of the viewer.    2) Storage of data on a per small content basis results in cumbersome management on the viewer's side. In case arrangement is made so that necessary content is selected as required then received/stored, selection of contents and management/adjustment of received contents involves considerable operation procedures.    3) Information recorded on storage media must be specified on the sending party.
Services of such form, unlike ordinary recording of programs based on the viewer's instruction, must store only the information specified by the sending party.
The invention, in view of the aforementioned problems, aims at assuring storage of data in information delivery services using storage media and providing services that promises the viewer's convenience.